Welcome to the Inglenook at Cold Spring School Library...a cozy place by the fire to discuss children's literature and the wonder of reading and learning.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

New From The Library--March 23, 2009

What Does It Mean To Be A Digital Citizen?

Sixth graders did a great job of posting a comment on our Library Skills Blog on the subject of "Digital Citizenship." They answered the question, "What does it mean to be a digital citizen?" Understanding their place in the virtual world is extremely important and thinking about their behavior online in an ethical manner will help them make difficult decisions not only now but in their futures. Their responses were thoughtful and open the door to more discussion of this important topic. To read what they posted, please go to The Library Skills Blog, to the first post and click on comments.

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--Kindergarteners loved Sandra Horning's The Giant Hug. This is the charming story of Owen who wants to send his granny a hug for her birthday. Not just a picture of a hug but a real one. The story shows how his idea made people happy all the way from coast to coast. It also gave students an idea of what's involved in mailing something--from a letter to a hug!

First Grade--Lily, in Kevin Henkes' books, is quite a character and she does have a mind of her own. In Lily's Big Day, she decides she will be the flower girl at her teacher's wedding. When she finds out his niece has been picked for the job she is crestfallen. But when asked to be the "assistant" to the flower girl, she takes the job with her usual gusto. And as it turns out, she does become the star of the wedding by doing something unselfish. Great little lessons in this book for students of this age.

Second Grade--Why would someone send a family one penguin a day for 365 days? In 365Penguins by Jean Luc Fromental, the family struggles with the math until the mystery is finally solved. Students loved this book and the message about caring for endangered species and global warming was just right for them.

Third Grade--Mrs. Villa's class missed library because of an assembly and Mrs. Lewis' class heard their last California Young Reader Medal nominee, Hilda Must Be Dancing. They were the last class to vote for their favorite and we had the fun of counting all the ballots. And the winner for 2008-09 for Cold Spring School is....The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend. Our votes will be sent to Sacramento next week to be counted with those of students from throughout the state. The results will be available to us in May.

Fourth Grade--We started our Tall Tales unit this week with a Keynote about the characteristics of a Tall Tale and a video of Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs. Each week for the next several weeks, I will read a tall tale and then students will write and illustrate their own which will be posted to our Fourth Grade Wiki.

Fifth Grade--Miss McLaren's class played a great round of Library Jeopardy and then they were off to CIMI with Mrs. Pickles' class.

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At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold,
that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the
better. ~~Barack Obama (from a speech to the American Library Association June 25, 2005)

About Me

I graduated from UCLA in 1970 with a degree in Art History and then earned my California Teaching Credential from UCLA in 1972. After teaching 4th grade in the inner city for 2 years I moved to Santa Barbara and founded the Santa Barbara Center for Educational Therapy. In 1989, with a desire to return to the public schools, I was fortunate to be hired as a school librarian and I'm starting my 20th year at Cold Spring School.
I have always been a bookworm and love teaching so this is the perfect job for me!